Russia risks becoming an 'economic colony of China' following its invasion of Ukraine, says CIA director

• CIA director William Burns said Russia is becoming "more and more dependent on China."
• And it "runs the risk of becoming an economic colony of China over time."

The director of the CIA said that Russia risks "becoming an economic colony of China" as it is increasingly isolated from the rest of the world after its invasion of Ukraine.

William Burns was speaking at Rice University in Houston on Tuesday, where he said that "Russia is becoming more and more dependent on China and, in some respects, runs the risk of becoming an economic colony of China over time, dependent for export of energy resources and raw materials," CNBC reported.

He said that the country's actions had been a "huge own goal for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's Russia."

Russia has become increasingly sealed off from much of the world since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Many nations, particularly in the West, have placed sanctions on Russian businesses and the country's elite.

The sanctions have also targeted Russia's banking system, with the EU saying these are aimed at "weakening Russia's ability to finance the war and specifically target the political, military and economic elite responsible for the invasion."

As a result, Russia has increasingly looked to China since the war began.

China initially appeared unhappy with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Putin saying in September that China had "questions and concerns" about it.

China's President Xi Jinping also criticized Russia's nuclear rhetoric in November.

But the war appears to have strengthened economic ties, which includes China buying more Russian oil now than it did before the invasion began.

US officials have warned that China may be preparing to give Russia weapons, though it has not yet done so.

Russia also retains political and economic relations with other countries, but many of them are small nations that were once part of the Soviet Union, and still rely on their economic ties with their larger neighbor.

Other large nations have continued to work with Russia economically. Like China, India also now buys more Russian oil than it did before the conflict began.

In March, Putin rejected suggestions that Moscow was becoming too dependent on China. He said that those who were claiming this were just "jealous people."